Chemical Processing

The majority of the new biopharmaceuticals and those in development today are produced in complex mammalian cell cultures — typically involving tens of biochemical species and hundreds of biochemical reactions. These biologics such as therapeutic…

Leak detection at large chemical sites can be both difficult and expensive. At one Belgian plant, operators were making twice-daily inspection rounds using portable leak detectors — but new and stricter government regulations required continuous…

The majority of the new biopharmaceuticals and those in development today are produced in complex mammalian cell cultures — typically involving tens of biochemical species and hundreds of biochemical reactions. These biologics such as therapeutic…

Emerson appoints Scott Anderson as president for its Control Techniques business unit.

Emerson appoints Scott Anderson as president for its Control Techniques business unit. Anderson leads the business from its headquarters in the United Kingdom where it employs around 650 people, along with an additional 1,000 employees across 55 locations worldwide.
Scott brings 32 years of Emerson experience to Control Techniques. His most recent leadership positions were in Emerson Process Management, where he spent 14 years as president of Rosemount Flow business unit and two years as president responsible for establishing the Lifecycle Services organization for Emerson Process, Flow Measurement group. Prior to that, he worked within Emerson Industrial Automation for 17 years in sales and marketing positions.
For more information,…

Embrace a variety of strategies that can eliminate hazards from operations

Trevor Kletz was able to simplify the concept of inherent safety in such a way that everyone “gets it.” His mantra “What you don’t have can’t leak” is so clear and powerful that it has grabbed the attention of all stakeholders, including…

Looking back at his project I wondered how he ever could foul it up this badly — at least unintentionally. He’d hired an offshore engineering company half-a-world away to save money. He hadn’t carefully defined the material properties, basic engineering document and drawings (BEDD) or the materials of construction. He sought low-bids for the design instead of time-and-material ones. He never reviewed preliminary drawings with manufacturing. Wow, what a mess. Yet the firm I was working for agreed to pick up the pieces — to build the process — without process engineering hours!
Although these situations seldom work out well, there are ways to minimize the damage to your firm and your reputation. Let’s consider the contract…

The Hydraulic Institute (HI), working as part of the Extended Motor Product Label Initiative (EMPLI) consortium, is collaborating on “Designing a Program for Future Incentives for Energy Efficient Pumps and Pumping Systems,” a new data collection effort.

The Hydraulic Institute (HI), working as part of the Extended Motor Product Label Initiative (EMPLI) consortium, is collaborating on “Designing a Program for Future Incentives for Energy Efficient Pumps and Pumping Systems,” a new data collection effort. Data will support a new voluntary labeling initiative for pumps and extended pump products (defined as the pump, motor, drive and controls). The concept is to reflect the energy savings potential of the equipment as installed in motor and control system applications. The development of an “extended-product label” in combination with the data collected will help form the basis for easily implementable prescriptive rebate programs.
End-user participation in submitting pump and load…

Volkmann, Inc. expands its U.S. headquarters, located in Bristol, PA, to include a 750-square-foot dedicated test facility.

Volkmann, Inc. expands its U.S. headquarters in Bristol, PA to include a 750-square-foot dedicated test facility. The laboratory incorporates a range of the company’s VS Series of vacuum conveyors, including the 200, 250, 350 and 450 receiver models, as well as a variety of feed hoppers and the company’s RNT rip and tip hopper. Two 150 foot runs of 1 ½” and 2 ½” conveying lines are available to simulate real world applications in product transfer, and a 20 foot vertical lift can be added where necessary.
The VS series can simulate conveying conditions for powders, granules, particles, tablets and capsules for customers in the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and coatings industries. A PPCVS 170 unit, built specifically for the…

A new method produces amines that are impractical or even impossible to make via conventional approaches and that hold particular promise for pharmaceuticals, claim its developers at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif. The technique,…

Researchers in Australia have developed polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) membranes for reverse osmosis and nanofiltration that promise to simplify treatment of brackish and sea waters and, thus, save energy. The membranes obviate the need for the…

This Month’s Puzzler
We would like to increase the cooling water flow to a tower condenser (heat exchanger A in Figure 1) from 2,900 gpm to the exchanger nameplate rating of 4,500 gpm. A review of the files shows the heat exchangers and control…

New and cost-effective ways to ensure assets are performing and operational risks are minimized.

If you’ve heard it once you’ve heard it a thousand times -- you can’t manage what you can’t measure. And how can you measure something you can’t easily see? The goal of asset management and the tools of the trade (enterprise asset management software among them) is to enable total visibility – in real time – to all your information so you can run more efficiently and grow more profitable. In a world where human assets are fewer, adopting new approaches to intelligently match limited resources with critical priorities is paramount.
Add to that the fact that the ISO 55000 Asset Management standard published last year by the International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switz., sets realistic expectations for asset…

Many chemical makers must defuse a demographic time bomb as veteran engineers and operators approach retirement. Companies are pursuing a variety of strategies to bring replacements up to speed and ensure that a vast wealth of knowledge and…

Many chemical makers must defuse a demographic time bomb as veteran engineers and operators approach retirement. Companies are pursuing a variety of strategies to bring replacements up to speed and ensure that a vast wealth of knowledge and…

Administration calls for updating and simplifying various regulations and guidance documents

With little fanfare, on July 2, 2015, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Council on Environmental Quality issued a memorandum directing…

Administration calls for updating and simplifying various regulations and guidance documents

With little fanfare, on July 2, 2015, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Council on Environmental Quality issued a memorandum directing…

Intel Security Technologies will be included in Honeywell’s industrial cyber security solutions for process control.

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) and Intel Security will collaborate to help bolster protection of critical industrial infrastructure and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Intel Security’s McAfee technologies will be integrated with Honeywell’s Industrial Cyber Security Solutions, providing Honeywell customers with enhanced security software to protect their control systems from malware and misuse.
Honeywell's Industrial Cyber Security Solutions group has a dedicated global team of industrial cyber security experts that provide products, services and technologies to help protect industrial automation and control systems against cyber threats. The collaboration between Intel Security and HPS will combine advances in cyber…

Organizations that take a “felt leadership” approach to process safety management are making strides in the ongoing quest to improve process safety.

The best laid plans are just that – plans. Unless you have someone championing the plans it’s nothing more than a useless exercise. This is true with process safety and unfortunately lives have been lost because of it. To truly improve process safety management (PSM), the responsibility falls to senior executives. It’s a trickle-down effect that at the very least will improve performance and at the utmost will save lives. DuPont calls this “felt leadership” and starts with leaders improving and influencing decision-making across the board.
Once upper management is on board, you can get to the root of accidents. While it’s easy to place blame on operators, you must look at the whole picture not just the last few brush strokes.

On December 1, 2014, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced that its “Most Wanted Safety Improvement” is to modernize U.S. process safety management (PSM) regulations. Specifically, the CSB notes implementation of key federal and state…

Embrace a variety of strategies that can eliminate hazards from operations

Trevor Kletz was able to simplify the concept of inherent safety in such a way that everyone “gets it.” His mantra “What you don’t have can’t leak” is so clear and powerful that it has grabbed the attention of all stakeholders, including…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

This Month’s Puzzler
We would like to increase the cooling water flow to a tower condenser (heat exchanger A in Figure 1) from 2,900 gpm to the exchanger nameplate rating of 4,500 gpm. A review of the files shows the heat exchangers and control…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

Serendipity Leads To Dust Library

Scientists have isolated 63 unique dust particles from their laboratory. The unexpected discovery has launched the creation of a dust library. Had I known, I would have invited those researchers from The Ohio State University to my house to really build a dust library. I'm fairly certain they would have found more than 63 unique dust particles.

The chemists were testing a new kind of sensor when dust got stuck inside it, and they discovered that they could measure the composition of single dust particles.

Most dust is natural in origin, explained James Coe, professor of chemistry at Ohio State University. The 63 particles they identified were mainly irregular blobs containing bits of many different ingredients.

The most common ingredient of the dust particles was organic matter, Coe said. “Organic” indicates some kind of plant or animal material, though the researchers can’t yet say precisely what kinds of organic matter they found. They are about to do an in-depth analysis to find out.

My husband and I own three Golden Retrievers. Again, I'm fairly certain our house would be off the charts with organic matter. And I'm confident that I wouldn't want to know what the matter is. . . but for the sake of science, this is a big deal.

Quartz was the second-most common ingredient. Both quartz and organic matter were found in more than half of the dust particles the researchers classified. Man-made chemicals from air pollution, fertilizers, and construction materials were also present in small amounts.

“In that way, a single dust particle is like a snapshot of mankind’s impact on the environment,” Coe said.

Scientists have had some difficulty getting precise measurements of dust composition, in part because standard techniques involve studying dust in bulk quantities rather than individual particles.

Nowhere is dust composition more important than in public health, where some airborne particulates have been linked to diseases. Coe cited silica dust from mining operations, which causes a lung disease called silicosis.

The patented sensor that Coe’s team was testing – a type of metal mesh that transmits infrared light through materials caught in the holes – is ideal for picking up minute details in the composition of single dust grains.

“We can separate particles by size to isolate the ones that are small enough to get into people’s lungs, and look at them in detail,” he added.

Coe didn’t set out to study dust. He and his team invented the metal mesh sensor in 2003, and discovered that they could use it to create surface plasmons – mixtures of conducting electrons and photons. The effect boosts the intensity of light passing through microscopic holes in the mesh, and lets scientists record a detailed infrared light spectrum. Any material stuck in the holes will leave a unique signature on the spectrum, so the sensor can be used to identify the chemicals in microscopic samples.

Early this year, the researchers were testing how light flows through the sensor, and they coated the mesh with a ring of tiny latex spheres to take a baseline measurement. The result should have been a spectrum unique to latex, but instead the spectrum carried the signature of several common minerals due to a single dust particle that had gotten inside the sensor – most likely from the laboratory air.

Coe launched a contest among his students to see who would be the first to take an infrared spectrum of a single dust particle – and an electron microscope image of the same particle. The winner got a free lunch and the chance to name the particle for publication.

Matthew McCormack, then an honors undergraduate student in the lab, won the contest and named the dust particle after his dog, Abby. His study of the particle formed the basis for his honors thesis, and the data has since been used by Coe and other members of the team in publications and presentations.

In subsequent tests, the students were able to isolate and study 63 individual dust particles from the air of their laboratory. The spectra they obtained with the sensor were free of scattering effects and stronger than expected.

Currently, Coe and his team are constructing computer algorithms to better analyze the mineral components and reveal details about the organic components.

A library of common dust components would be useful for many areas of science, he said.

Eventually, researchers in public health could use the sensor as a laboratory tool to analyze dust particles. It could also enable studies in astronomy, geology, environmental science, and atmospheric science.

McCormack is a co-author on the paper, along with Katherine Cilwa, now a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry at the University of Michigan; Michelle Lew, now a doctoral student in chemistry at Indiana University; Christophe Robitaille, now in medical school at the University of Chicago; Lloyd Corwin, a former Ohio State undergraduate student in nuclear engineering; and Marvin Malone, a current doctoral student in Coe’s laboratory.